Federal law enforcement announced charges yesterday against three men accused of stealing credit information from 30,000 consumers in what authorities called the largest case of identity theft in U.S. history.
The stolen records included 15,000 credit reports taken from Experian, the Associated Press wire service reported. Philip Cummings, a help-desk worker at a software company, is accused of gaining access to the reports using passwords belonging to Ford Motor Credit Corp.
Cummings stole credit reports from other sources as well, according to charges filed against him by James Comey, U.S. attorney in Manhattan.
Comey also charged Linus Baptiste and Hakeem Mohammed with buying the reports for $30 each and passing them on to 20 unidentified individuals who used them to make money. Federal authorities estimate consumer losses from the scam at $2.7 million. Victims said they lost money from bank accounts and had unauthorized charges issued to their credit cards.
Mohammed has pleaded guilty to mail fraud in the case, AP reported.
